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Friday, 21 December 2007

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Uncle: No shotgun wedding for Jamie Lynn & Casey

Casey's uncle gives his honest opinion

Although they are about to become parents, Jamie Lynn Spears and her boyfriend Casey Aldridge have no plans to wed – yet.

"They may or may not [get married]," says Aldridge's uncle, Odus Jackson, in an interview outside Aldridge’s house in Mississippi. "You just never know."

Jackson, who is a pastor at Galilee First Baptist Church in Gloster, Miss., says that while he is hopeful the young couple will remain in a committed relationship, he is also realistic.

"I hope they will stick it out and get married for the child's sake and their sake," he says. "But if they're not in love and it was just a fantasy, they don't need to make the same mistake twice."

Speaking about his teenage nephew, who was raised in rural Gloster and attended high school in nearby Liberty, Miss., Jackson says, "He was a typical country boy growing up. He's never given the family a whole lot of problems – no more than most teenagers."

But in the past year Aldridge had relocated to California to be closer to the 16-year-old Spears. "To me, personally, when he was allowed to go out to California part of his senior year . . . you know when you put boy and girl together, it don't work," says Jackson. "Testosterone is tough to control."

He also lamented the storm of publicity that has disrupted the family's quiet smalltown life. "We know that it's national news, more than just a boy-girl mess up," says Jackson. "[But] we're not used to media down here."

For his part, while the uncle spoke, Aldridge briefly appeared in a pickup with a group of friends. "Can't talk to you, man," he said, before driving off up the house's 100-yard gravel driveway.

By Michelle Tauber and David Vowell